Tuesday, February 26, 2013

I just finished reading Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie. I might have seen the Disney film as a child, but I don't remember. I figured it would be a fun little book to have on the shelf for my kids to pick up when they're ready to start really reading. So this was my first real venture into the world of Neverland. And reading it as a father and an adult may have made me miss the point.

I'm not sure what to think of the book.

It was written in the most fascinating fashion. Barrie often breaks the 4th wall or whatever by letting us in on his thought process as he tells the story. Feels like we're reading his notes. Sometimes the book is completely fantastical, but other times it's a step away from horrific. For all the grand fairytale of it, there is quite a lot of violence. The children in Neverland are never safe. And they are often fighting. And killing!

by Giacobino

Peter Pan, the character, is not the protagonist. I submit he's not even a good guy. He cannot see anything beyond himself. Tinkerbell is far different than the friendly Disney portrayal. She was jealous, vulgar, childish, and dangerous. I don't recall anything positive she said or did save one. She did give her life for Peter. And I guess that's everything.

The "reality" of Neverland is quite whimsical and rather untrustworthy. However, when we see the parents reaction to the kid's prolonged absence, things aren't much more normal at home. Heck, even before they left they were being raised by a dog!

by Giacobino

I love how the author recognizes the despicableness of his own protagonists by referring to them as selfish children.

by Giacobino

by Giacobino

by Giacobino

by Giacobino

Images of my own kids flying away for hundreds of days on end leaves me with negative emotions. I sense themes throughout the book that mirror Lord of the Flies, though, I'm not sure that was intended. Perhaps it's my own jaded grown-upness talking here, but I was a bit uncomfortable with the evident sexual themes throughout the book.

The game system is a form of a dice pool mechanic, so as expected, one simply clicks on the dice you'd select to build the pool. Then click on 'ROLL' and watch the graphical randomizing go for a few seconds before it spits out a random result along the bottom.

The example above called for one Proficiency die (yellow), two Ability dice (green), one Challenge die (red), and two Difficulty dice (purple). Note that the unselected dice are shaded. When you click on a die to select it, it appears clearly or highlighted. The string of symbols along the bottom are the calculated results minus the symbols that cancel each other out. A nice feature is if you hover the cursor over any of the images, a box with a label appears.

Another cool feature is the ability to view the probability of the result.

A very solid gaming tool for the Star Wars RPG. I'll be using it and look forward to seeing more like it.

Here is alternate one just in case the above one goes 404 again. alternative...

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Glass Hammer is a progressive rock band that draw a lot of influence from fantasy literature, primarily C.S. Lewis and J.R.R Tolkien. Their 1995 album, Perelandra, is a concept album built around the story elements of the whole Space Trilogy.

Thursday, February 7, 2013

Huge news out of Cubicle 7 who currently have the Doctor Who RPG license. They are producing source books for all of the previous Doctors! They are also offering various ways to make sure fans can get the books. Here is the news:

To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who, we are releasing a series of Doctor Sourcebooks for the Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space roleplaying game.
Each book will take an in-depth look at an incarnation of the Doctor,
featuring his companions, enemies, allies, gadgets and more. We will
present each of his adventures, giving an overview of the action and
themes, exploring how you can use them in your games. We’ll also give
you suggestions for further adventures based on the events depicted.
As well as being packed with information for use in your games, the
books will be full of images from that Doctor’s incarnation, and will be
a wonderful fan resource for the show’s history. We’re even keeping the
first two in black and white to stay true to the feel of the show!

The books will be US letter-size (standard RPG size, 8.5”x11”) and
160 pages long with a hard cover. The First and Second Doctor
Sourcebooks will feature full colour covers and period-appropriate black
and white interior; all the others will be in full colour throughout.
We have commissioned a montage of the eleven Doctors, which will run
across the spines of the Sourcebooks when they are on the shelf:

Subscription deal
We’re offering a time-limited subscription deal to give fans of the
game a way to get themselves a great deal on these books, have them sent
as soon as they are available, and to support us in the creation of
this series. The first six books are at various degrees of readiness,
which is a big up-front investment for us, so your support would be very
much appreciated!
There are two deals available:Deal 1 – the full set
This includes:
All 11 titles: The First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth,
Seventh, Eighth, Ninth and Tenth Doctor Sourcebooks, plus the Eleventh
Doctor Sourcebook One.
Both physical copies and PDFs
All Doctor Who short PDF-only products released in 2013 (at least three)
The MSRP for these books will be $385/£264 plus shipping – the
subscription deal is $315/£216 plus shipping, a saving of $70/£48 – two
free books!Deal 2 – the early years
This includes:
Six titles: The First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Doctor Sourcebooks
Both physical copies and PDFs
The MSRP for these books will be $210/£144 plus shipping – the
subscription deal is $175/£120 plus shipping, a saving of $35/£24 – one
free book!Shipping
The shipping rate depends on where the books are delivered to – 10%
of the total order for UK/USA, 20% for Canada/Europe and 35% for
everywhere else.Timescale
The First Doctor Book is due to be delivered in April, with the PDF
being available in February. The Second Doctor Book is almost complete;
the majority of the writing is finished on the Third and Fourth Doctor
books and the Fifth and Sixth are underway. We aim to release a book
every other month as a minimum, and hope to bring them out quicker than
that. Of course, unanticipated delays can crop up, and in this case we
will communicate with you on progress. In any case, subscribers will
receive both the books and the PDFs as soon as they are available.Cancellation and refunds
If, for whatever reason, you need to cancel your subscription, we
will refund your subscription fee in proportion to the number of books
you have already received – for example, if you need to cancel after the
3rd book of deal one, you will receive a refund of 8/11 of the total paid.

Without further ado, a first look at The First Doctor Sourcebook cover:
Here's a preview PDF of the first few pages of The First Doctor Sourcebook:
Happy 50th Anniversary, Doctor Who!